SANTA MONICA, Calif. — December 18, 2012 — Auto industry insiders, car buyers and other innovative thinkers are invited to register for Edmunds.com's "Hack-O-Motive," a two-day event that aims to re-imagine the car shopping experience by bringing together consumers, dealers, manufacturers, designers and technologists to shatter the status quo. The event will be held at Edmunds.com's Santa Monica, Calif. headquarters February 27-28, with a welcome reception on the evening of the 26th.

"A car purchase is one of the biggest financial decisions for most people, and it's still an unpleasant, anxiety-filled experience that has changed little even with the benefit of online resources," says Philip Potloff, Chief Information Officer at Edmunds.com. "By bringing together the right mix of bold thought leaders and automotive experts, we believe we can reinvent the car-buying experience from the ground up."

Hack-O-Motive is open to anyone with an interest in changing the way cars are bought and sold. Participants will be divided into teams that are drawn toward a particular issue within the car-buying process, and then develop a prototype to solve the problem. At the end of the second day, teams will present their prototypes to a panel of judges, who will award the winning team $10,000 — with $5,000 and $3,000 cash prizes awarded to the two runners up.

"Hack-O-Motive" marks Edmunds.com's first hack event open to participants from outside the company. In previous internal Hack Days, Edmunds.com employees have successfully created real-world solutions for challenges regularly encountered by consumers, dealers and automakers. Many of Edmunds.com's car-buying products are born through these events.

About Edmunds.com, Inc.
At Edmunds.com, we're committed to helping people find the car that meets their every need. Almost 18 million visitors use our research, shopping and buying tools every month to make an easy and informed decision on their next new or used car. Whether you're at the dealership or on the go, we're always by your side with our five-star Edmunds.com iPhone and iPad apps and our Edmunds.com Android App. Our comprehensive car reviews, shopping tips, photos, videos and feature stories offer a friendly and authentic approach to the automotive world. We're based in Santa Monica, Calif., but you can connect with us from anywhere by following @Edmunds on Twitter or by becoming a fan of Edmunds.com on Facebook.

† Edmunds.com received the highest numerical score in the proprietary J.D. Power 2014 Third-Party Automotive Website Evaluation Study℠. Results based on responses from 3,381 responses, measuring 14 companies and measures third-party automotive website usefulness among new and used vehicle shoppers. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of owners surveyed from January 2014. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com.